Co-branded with TechTarget - This article explores why it is important that IT leaders in financial services consider upgrading their networks to SDN now. The advantages of SDN are too compelling to put on hold, particularly in financial services, where issues such as agile development, speed to market, compliance, security, data protection and high availability of applications are so critical to business success. In addition to discussing the reasons to consider SDN, the article also describes some of the important features and characteristics to look for in an SDN vendor.